Sunnyside, Calgary
Encyclopedia
Sunnyside is an innercity community in Calgary, Alberta located on the north side of the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
immediately adjacent to Calgary's downtown. The community partners with the neighboring community of Hillhurst to form the popular area known as Kensington.
Kensington
Kensington, Calgary
Kensington is a Business Revitalization Zone in Calgary, Alberta, focused around the intersection of Kensington Road and 10th St. NW, also known as the Kensington-Louise Crossing Business Association. It resides primarily in the Hillhurst and Sunnyside neighbourhood, and successful marketing has...
is a Business Revitalization Zone and the communities of Hillhurst and Sunnyside have an area redevelopment plan
Area redevelopment plan
An Area redevelopment plan is an urban planning designation created by municipalities in Alberta, Canada for the purposes of facilitating development in specific geographic areas. ARPs differ from Area structure plans in that they apply to areas of a municipality that have already been developed...
in place.
History
Sunnyside is one of Calgary's oldest communities. Originally settled by homesteaders in the 1880s, the land was purchased by the City of CalgaryCalgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
and incorporated into the city proper in 1904. Although the majority of the original residents of Sunnyside were Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
and Eau Claire Sawmill employees, the community now mainly attracts urban professionals and their families due to its quiet neighbourhood atmosphere and close proximity to Calgary's active downtown
Downtown Calgary
Downtown Calgary is a region of central Calgary, Alberta. It is not a single neighbourhood per se, but is actually a larger community containing three neighbourhoods and a number of districts....
.
Beginning in 1913, streetcars were the main means of transport within the city. One of the lines traveled east through Sunnyside on 2 Avenue to pick up workers for the CPR. It then went up the hill to the north end of the Centre Street Bridge
Centre Street Bridge (Calgary)
The Centre Street Bridge is a bridge in Calgary, Alberta, crossing the Bow River, along the Centre Street. The lower deck connects Riverfront Avenue in Chinatown with Memorial Drive, while the upper elevated deck crosses Memorial Drive as well, reaching into the community of Crescent...
. There, the workers caught another streetcar to downtown. The area where the streetcar went up the embankment is now part of Calgary's paved pathway system; it begins behind the Calgary Curling Club, passes underneath the McHugh Bluff stairs and onwards to the top of the bluff.
Geography
Sunnyside is bounded by Centre StreetCentre Street (Calgary)
Centre Street is a major road in Calgary, Alberta.The northern part extends from the Bow River to Bergen Road/Beddington Drive, after which it becomes a local arterial street before it becomes unavailable to private vehicular traffic north of Bergen Crescent...
on the east and by 10th Street NW on the west. On the north Sunnyside is bounded by McHugh Bluff Park and on the south by the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
.
Major roads that pass through Sunnyside include 10th Street NW (North-South Traffic) and Memorial Drive
Memorial Drive (Calgary)
Memorial Drive is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. Besides having an important role in city infrastructure, the tree lined sides of Memorial Drive serve as a living testament to the many soldiers who died during World War I and give it a parkway look on the western section...
(East-West Traffic). Most of the traffic on these major roads is either entering or exiting the downtown and not generated by the community itself. Consequently the City of Calgary has taken specific traffic measures such as banning left hand turns for South bound 10th Street traffic in the morning and banning right hand turns onto most streets for West bound Memorial Drive in the afternoon. The main artery within the neighborhood is 2nd Avenue NW.
Sunnyside, like the communities of Eau Claire, Chinatown
Chinatown, Calgary
Calgary's Chinatown is the fourth largest in Canada after those in Vancouver,Toronto, and Montreal. The size of Calgary's Chinatown is indicative of the relatively high proportion of people of Asian descent living in the city....
, East Village and Inglewood, sits on the flood plain of the Bow River
Bow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
. The risk of flood damage in Sunnyside has been reduced significantly by the construction of a berm
Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm originates in the Middle Dutch and German berme and came into usage in English via French.- History :...
along Memorial Drive and the construction of the Bear's Paw dam upstream. While the Bear's Paw dam is considered too far upstream and the reservoir storage capacity too small to prevent the largest of floods, the last time Sunnyside experienced widespread flooding was in 1932.
In June 2005 when exceptionally heavy rainfalls combined with the regular rise in the Bow River caused by snow melting in the mountains. Storm sewer outflows were closed off to prevent the Bow River from flooding the neighborhood, leaving the heavy rainfall to collect in the neighborhood. The result were some basement flooding and parts of Memorial Drive being closed to traffic.
In March 2009, a similar incident occurred when heavy wet snow that fell overnight melted quickly during the day. With the outflows once again closed off, this time to prevent flow in from the Bow River that could occur from winter ice dams, the water flowing down from Rosedale quickly accumulated in Sunnyside. Several homes on 1 Ave NW between 5A Street NW and 6 Street NW experienced basement flooding.
Architecture
Sunnyside's architecture is a mixed array of designs and styles each telling a story of the neighborhood's history. Sunnyside has a blend of single-family dwellings, modern mid-rise high-density housing, neighbourhood corner stores and restaurants and walk-up apartment buildings.In the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
constructed “workers’ cottages” on 25-foot lots, which they rented to CPR employees. The cottages were wood framed and had cellars that were prone to flooding. Early residents describes the community’s houses as good, ordinary homes for working class people. The community had wooden sidewalks, dirt roads, water from wells and springs, milk straight from cows and flooding in the spring. There were no lights, gas, sewers or stores.
Over the years many of these cottages have been torn down and replaced with new buildings representative of the trends of the day. The cottages that remain have all been upgraded with modern conveniences and utilities.
In the 1920s a series of apartment "mansions" were built along Memorial Drive. These so called mansions were constructed of brick and concrete. Today these buildings are considered the pinnacle of trendiness in the Sunnyside Condo market.
The 1970s high oil prices brought a new wave of construction to Sunnyside. Many of the cottages and homes were torn down and replaced with one and two bedroom apartment buildings. Most of these concrete and brick buildings were upgraded and turned into condominiums.
Demographics
Sunnyside is primarily a residential areaResidential area
A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...
with the majority of land used for single family homes
Single-family home
A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family dwelling.- Definitions :...
, apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s and condominiums. The 2006 Calgary Census indicated Sunnyside had a population of 3,740 individuals of which slightly more than half were living in non-family situations. 48.7% of the population is between the ages of 20 and 34, and 43.2% of the population has some form of university degree. In 2006 Sunnyside residents had a mean income of $42,325 a year.
Amenities
Sunnyside has an elementary school, a stationSunnyside (C-Train)
Sunnyside is a stop on the Northwest Line of the C-Train light rail system in Calgary, Alberta.The station serves the Sunnyside and Hillhurst neighbourhoods of Calgary, as well as the Kensington shopping district, and is a short walk from Riley Park.-History:The station, and the section of the...
on the C-Train
C-Train
C-Train is the light rail transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has been in operation since May 25, 1981. The system is operated by Calgary Transit, a department of the Calgary municipal government.-Operations:...
(Calgary's Light Rail Transit system), and a grocery store as well as many popular restaurants, coffee shops, and boutique stores.
Grocery stores include Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc.
Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...
and the Sunnyside Market.
Sunnyside is home to the Calgary Curling Club. The club is located at the east end of the neighborhood.
Sunnyside has a community centre that is located in neighboring community of Hillhurst. It is located at 1320 – 5 Ave NW.
Community Association
Sunnyside's community association is known as the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association and is reportedly established in 1942. Their mandate is to provide and organize sports, recreational and social activities, and act as an advocacy group for the community's interests on planning and other civic issues.In the 1970s the integrity of neighborhood was threatened by proposed high-speed transportation routes and by increasing land development. It was proposed that Memorial Drive
Memorial Drive (Calgary)
Memorial Drive is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. Besides having an important role in city infrastructure, the tree lined sides of Memorial Drive serve as a living testament to the many soldiers who died during World War I and give it a parkway look on the western section...
become a major highway and an interchange be built where Memorial Drive and 10th Street NW intersect today. The Louise Bridge would be replaced by two new bridges; a south bound bridge aligning to 10th Street NW and a north bound bridge aligning to 9A Street. The association adopted an activist approach, and succeeded in blocking the interchange plans and retaining much of the traditional small-scale quality of the community.
In the 1980s a new transportation development was proposed. Calgary's light rail transportation line was proposed to replace 9A Street NW and many homes were to be demolished to make way. This proposal did go through and in 1987 the Sunnyside Station
Sunnyside (C-Train)
Sunnyside is a stop on the Northwest Line of the C-Train light rail system in Calgary, Alberta.The station serves the Sunnyside and Hillhurst neighbourhoods of Calgary, as well as the Kensington shopping district, and is a short walk from Riley Park.-History:The station, and the section of the...
was completed but not before many changes and concessions were made by city planners. While not all the homes and buildings were torn down, many of them were left with no front access point, instead relying on the alleyway.
Today the association remains involved in the review of development plans through its Community Environment Committee. The concern today is the City of Calgary's plan for Transit oriented development (TOD). TOD is a plan where higher density development is concentrated near the station (600m radius) to make transit convenient for more people and encourage ridership. The irony of this plan is that Sunnyside is positioned so close to downtown and already has most amenities that most residents walk to their destination. In fact many suburbanites choose to drive to Sunnyside, park their cars and then walk in to downtown for work. Furthermore, because the Sunnyside Station is the last stop on the NW line the trains are often packed to capacity, although this may be alleviated by the introduction of 4-car trains in the future.
Politics
Municipally, Sunnyside falls within the riding of Ward 7 currently held by AldermanCalgary City Council
The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The Council consists of two offices; Office of the Mayor and Office of the Alderman. Naheed Nenshi was elected to the Office of the Mayor in October 2010 as the city's 36th chief executive...
Druh Farrell. Provincially, Sunnyside is located in the electoral district of Calgary Mountain View
Calgary Mountain View
Calgary-Mountain View is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.-Boundary history:- Members of the Legislative Assembly :-2008 general election:-2004 general election:...
and is held by Liberal
Alberta Liberal Party
The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...
MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
David Swann
David Swann
David Swann, MLA is a medical doctor and Alberta Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary Mountain View. He was until recently the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Alberta Legislature....
. On the federal level, Sunnyside resides in the electoral district (called a riding) of Calgary Centre-North
Calgary Centre-North
Calgary Centre-North is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004...
and is held by MP Michelle Rempel
Michelle Rempel
Michelle Rempel is a Canadian politician. She was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the federal Conservative Party of Canada in the 2011 election, representing the electoral district of Calgary Centre-North....
.